Bayern Munich Destroys Barca En Route to Commanding Lead

Bayern Munich dismantled Barcelona take a 4-0 lead on aggregate (FIFA.com)

I didn't think I'd ever see this day, honestly, the day when this incarnation of Barcelona was outplayed, outclassed, outhustled, and basically out-everythinged on the football pitch.  Bayern Munich accomplished just that though, and did it in absolute style.  The overriding feeling I had watching the match, especially in the second half, was like I was watching a charged up teenager totally dismantle a finely tuned watch or clock.  It really was a spectacle.

Bayern served notice right off the bat, as Barcelona barely had time to try to get their passing game going before the German side was launching an attack at goal.  In the second minute of the match Arjen Robben found the ball in the box and drove a shot in on Victor Valdes, but the Barca 'keeper proved himself awake and alert, stopping the shot and ending the first threat.

Barca got their first look of the match on nine minutes.  Pique got a decent look at the Bayern goal off of a corner kick, but steered his header wide of the target.  It would be pretty much the only first half highlight for Barca, though at that point they must have felt a little better for surviving the early minutes in Munich.

That illusion quickly evaporated in minute 25 though as the Germans took the lead and established one of the themes of the evening: Barca could not deal with balls in from wide, especially in the air.  Bayern defender Dante headed a cross back into the area, where a diving Thomas Muller headed it off of Valdes and inside the near post to give Bayern the 1-0 lead.

Barcelona continued with their style, clearly it wasn't time to panic despite being down a goal fairly early.  They held on to the ball and managed their usual 60+ percent possession, but there really was not a lot of purpose to it.  They came close to finding Messi in the six on 28 minutes, but Dante was alert to the incoming pass and tapped it out for a corner kick, which came to nothing.  That was the last significant action of a first half that finished 1-0 to the home side.

Bayern came out in the second half and immediately turned up the heat on Barca.  The Spanish again found their interior defense exposed in the 49th minute.  Bayern sent in a corner, and this time it was Muller who got the first head to it, dropping it down to Mario Gomez, who neatly dropped the ball into the net from about one yard out to make it 2-0 to the Germans.  Replays showed that Gomez was probably a fraction offside, and it really was close, but the goal stood.

However Bayern were not content and continued to pepper the Barcelona goal with quality chances.  In the 55th minute Robben dropped a nice little ball off to Frank Ribery in the 18, and the Frenchman sent a shot blazing the opposite way across the six.  It was too far out for Victor Valdes to grab, but fortunately for Barca, the ball rolled just wide of the far post.  Then just three minutes later Bayern nearly punished Barcelona on a set piece again as Robben directed a header toward goal off of a free kick.  This one floated wide as well, letting Barca breathe again, for the moment anyway.

Barcelona's best chance of the match came in the the 69th minute.  Defender Marc Bartra got a good look at the goal from an angle, but mishit his shot, sending it floating harmlessly over the crossbar.  One could just hear Barca fans thinking "If only it was one of our other players with that shot."

Following that miss, Bayern iced the match with two goals late on.  In the 73rd minute Robben made a run into the box, getting around a Barcelona defender, and slotting the ball inside the far post to make it 3-0.  It really was class finish by the Dutchman, but again the goal was not without controversy as Thomas Muller threw a clear pick on the Barca defender to help free up Robben.  It probably should have been a foul.

Bayern finally put the nail in the coffin for the match, and probably the whole tie, in the 82nd minute.  Again Bayern beat the Barca defense with a ball in from wide as David Alaba sent a ball across the six.  Muller was there waiting for it and tapped it in for his second goal of the match which made it 4-0 to Bayern Munich, which was still the score at full time.

It really was the finest performances I've seen in all the Champions League matches that I've laid eyes on.  In fact it was kind of tough to watch.  Barcelona certainly had their fair share of the possession (66%), but they could do absolutely nothing with it.  It truly was possession without a purpose.  Barcelona fans will certainly point to the fact that Lionel Messi was not anywhere near 100%.  Now, I'm not a master of tactics, but I'm not sure a healthier Messi would have done all that much good.  One can certainly argue that Messi at full strength would have given Barca's possession more purpose, but unless he was going to go back and play central defense in front of goal as well, I can't say that Bayern could have been stopped when they attacked.  Barca have been exposed from wide and on set pieces constantly during the Champions League this year, but have pretty much always been the better team and able to neutralize the weakness with their passing and possession game, but Bayern was quite obviously a class above anyone else they've played, including AC Milan and PSG.

No, Bayern deserve full credit for this performance, no matter what Messi did or didn't do.  They gummed up the internal works for Barca all day, never letting them get into sync.  Whenever Barca did start to get things going, the Germans were coming in with a hard foul or a slide tackle, taking Barca totally out of their game.

Now Barcelona face an uphill task next week at Camp Nou.  Without a road goal, they'll not only have to beat Bayern by 4, but they'll have to put up a clean sheet as well.  Good luck with that.  Also, Jordi Alba drew a late yellow for hitting Robben in the face with the ball and will now miss that match.  Finally, with the Bundesliga all wrapped up, Bayern Munich will certainly rest their front line players over the weekend so that they'll be fresh and ready to go next Wednesday.

Champions League Roundup: Bayern Drubs Arsenal. Barca Fall

Didier Drogba returned to Champions League Play with Galatasaray (Getty Images)

The second week of knockout action in the UEFA Champions League action certainly provided some interesting results, though not a lot of it along with the pundits' scripts.  Out of the eight teams that played, probably only one really punched their ticket to the next round, but there definitely could be some surprises in store in the second legs.

The action kicked off on Tuesday with Arsenal hosting last year's finalists Bayern Munich at the Emirates in London.  The Gunners were reeling after the weekend saw them drop out of the FA Cup with a home loss to Blackburn.  Sadly for Arsenal supporters, things didn't improve on Tuesday as Bayern were up two goals within 25 minutes courtesy of Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller.

Arsenal did manage to survive until halftime without conceding again, and a stroke of luck awarded them a comeback goal in the second half.  The referee wrongly awarded a corner kick to the Gunners after Santi Cazorla's shot defected off of his own man.  Bayern 'keeper Manuel Neuer totally flubbed on the corner, missing the ball completely.  Arsenal man Lucas Podolski was in the right place at the right time to nod the ball into goal to give Arsenal hope on on 55 minutes, but Matrio Mandzukic struck in minute 77 to ice the match 1-3 to Bayern.  It's tough to see the Gunners going to Germany and making up the deficit, but as Chelsea fans will tell you, stranger things have happened.  However,  I do believe at this point that Bayern are as good as through.

Tuesday's other match took place in Portugal as FC Porto hosted La Liga's Malaga.  Much of the punditry, especially on Fox, gave Malaga the advantage in this one, despite Porto's excellent record at home in Europe.  Malaga have been decent in La Liga this year, but far from world beaters, and to me, they're a bit over-rated. 

Porto controlled the possession 63%-37%, but the match offered few clear chances for either side.  Finally Porto broke through in the second half though.  Portugal international Joao Moutinho took a pass from Alex Sandro, who positioned him well between the final Malaga defender and goalkeeper. From there it was only for Moutinho to side foot the ball into the net to give Porto the 1-0 win.  The hosts would probably have preferred to see a bigger advantage for all their possession, but Malaga will be disappointed not to come away with the away goal.

The shocker of the week came Wednesday at San Siro in Milan as AC Milan hosted Barcelona, who have looked to be a juggernaut in most of their competitions this year.  Barca seemed to sputter a little more than usual against Milan, albeit on an obviously choppy pitch.  Kevin-Prince Boateng put the home side up early in the second half, but in controversial fashion.  Riccardo Montolivo took a shot the quite clearly deflected off the arm of Milan's Christian Zapata, but there was no whistle.  The ball fell to Boateng, who managed to slot past Victor Valdes to give Milan the 1-0 lead on 56 minutes.  Gerard "Mr. Shakira" Pique was booked for dissent after the goal.

There wasn't controversy in the 81st minute though as Sulley Muntari beat Valdes with an excellent finish to make it 2-0 on full time.  The organized Italian side contained Messi for most of the match and their lead is well deserved, despite the obvious talking point.   Certainly Barca are more than capable of making up the ground at Camp Nou, but it might be a bit tougher without the away goal.  Don't bury them yet though.

The final game of the week took place in Turkey as a revitalized Galatasary squad hosted Schalke 04.  With former UCL champions Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba now in the fold, the Turkish side looked to be in good shape for a deep run in the knockout stages.  They even took the lead only 12 minutes in when Burak Yilmaz.  Yilmaz wowed the crowd by flicking the ball over a Schalke defender then banging into the net to get to give the home side a 1-0 lead.

Schalke had some other things in mind though.  Right before halftime Jefferson Farfan set up  US International Jermaine Jones after Gala gave the ball away in midfield.  Jones took the pass and calmly beat Gala 'keeper Fernando Muslera to tie the score at 1-1.  It would be the last scoring of the day.  Schalke will be well pleased with the way goal.

There is some controversy surrounding this result as well as Schalke have officially challenged the match with UEFA.  The concern is over Drogba's inclusion in the Galatasaray squad.  Drogba was given a temporary license with UEFA after the Ivorian striker contended that his contract with the Chinese club he joined was void after they failed to pay his wages for three months.  He then joined Galatasaray.  However, there is some dispute over this, and UEFA is investigating the legal status of the contract.  Schalke is contending that Drogba was ineligible to play pending the outcome of this investigation.  I doubt UEFA will do anything given the temporary license, but we'll see.  At any rate, the result is a positive one for the German club.

Barcelona's Sanchez Injured on International Duty

Barca's Alexis Sanchez picked up a foot injury on Wednesday

Bad news for Barcelona fans out of the international break.  Alexis Sanchez picked up a foot injury during Chile's 3-1 friendly loss to Serbia on Wednesday.  He is expected to miss up to four weeks.  The injury occured in the 20th minute on a challenge from Serbia's Luka Milivojevic.  The damage itself has been diagnosed as a strained ligament in his right foot.

Sanchez could miss up to eight matches in both La Liga and the UEFA Champions League, including Barcelona's clash with Atletico Madrid in a few weeks.  Despite the fact that Barca seems to have a lack of "true" forwards or wingers,  I don't think anyone really doubts that they will continue to score goals in the coming weeks.

Strong Finish Lifts Barcelona Over Rayo Vallecano

Barcelona celebrate Cesc Fabregas's late goal at Rayo Vallecano (Getty Images)

It was a windy and chilly day yesterday when Barcelona brought their show to Madrid, not to face Real or even Atletico, but going up against Rayo Vallecano at Estadio Teresa Rivero.  Prior to the match, Rayo's manager Francisco Jemez had indicated that his side intended to go toe to toe with Barca, and they pretty much did, holding their ground until late in the second half.

It really took Barca a few minutes to even get a foothold in the match, and Rayo tried desperately to take advantage and hit them early.  Unfortunately for them, they couldn't really get their sights on goal, and rarely tested Victor Valdes and his somewhat makeshift Barca back line.  Jose Carlos got a grand look after a corner in the very first minute, but screwed his shot wide of the goal.  He really should have done better.  He would try his luck again, dialing up a shot in the 17th minute but again failed to hit the target.  Despite the Rayo pressure, Barcelona really didn't look like they were going to break.

Slowly Barca got their feet under them and finally made Rayo pay for their missed opportunities in the 20th minute.  Cesc Fabregas picked out David Villa, who was making a superb late run into the penalty area.  Villa cleanly one touched the ball past the Rayo 'keeper and into the net to make it 0-1 to Barcelona.

Rayo responded pretty well though, and had a great chance to equalize the match prior to halftime.  In the 44th minute Javi Fuego dumped a ball over the top of the Barca defense that dropped to Andrija Delibasic in the area.  The Serb got his shot away, and on target, but Valdes was up to the task, corralling it and preserving his team's 0-1 lead going into the interval.

Barcelona came out in the second half and immediately put a little more daylight between themselves and the home side.  In the 48th minute Lionel Messi took a ball from Martin Montoya and smacked it into the top corner of the goal to make it 0-2 to Barcelona.

Rayo still didn't go away though, and really deserved a lot of credit for hanging in the match as long as they did.  The continued to create chances and half chances, but still really could not get their shots on frame.  In the 78th minute Sergio Rodri got a great look at goal off of a set piece, as the ball fell to him just on the side of the six.  However once again he failed to test the 'keeper and the home side failed to cut into the lead.

That was the last opening Barca would need as they would add three more goals over the course of the final twelve minutes.  In the 78th Jordi Alba found Xavi in the center of the box, and he promptly slotted home Barca's third.   Cesc Fabregas volleyed in a cross from Pedro to make it 0-4 in the 80th, and Messi finished the night with a clinical finish from a tough angle to make it 0-5 at full time.

In the end, Rayo probably didn't deserve to get put to the sword quite so badly, but their missed opportunities came back to haunt them as they failed to capitalize on Barca's vulnerable back line.  It wasn't always vintage Barcelona, but it was more than enough.

Alex Song Officially Joins Barcelona

Alex Song has completed his medical and arrival at Barcelona

The exodus from the Emirates continued today as Arsenal midfielder completed his medical evaluation paving the way for his official arrival at Barcelona.  The move is rumored to be worth about £15 millon.

Song is a 24 year old midfielder from Cameroon, who has spent the last seven years in North London.  He has signed a five year deal with the La Liga giants, where he hopes to provide them with a bit more of a physical presence.  I think it's a good move for both player and club.

Song did not play for Arsenal when the Gunners hosted Sunderland this last weekend.  Immediately after the end of the match, which finished scoreless, they announced that they had agreed to terms with Barca for the transfer.  Song appeared in 204 matches for Arsenal, scoring 10 goals in the process.

Pep Guardiola Will Leave Barcelona

Pep Guardiola holds the European Cup in 2011.  (guardian.co.uk)

Today marks the end of an era, at least of sorts, at Camp Nou.  Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has announced at a press conference that he will not be returning to the La Liga giants once his contract expires at the end of the season.  It's been a tough couple weeks at Barca, losing El Clasico at home to Real Madrid and being knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Chelsea.  Still, rumors have been swirling about this for months, and apparently Pep himself has been thinking along these lines for awhile.  According to RivalsDM, Guardiola met with Barcelona leadership on Wednesday and told them he wanted to leave.  The club asked him to reconsider, but he stuck with his choice.

Guardiola had a remarkable run as manager at Barca.  He began his coaching career at Barcelona B in 2007, and became first team boss in 2008.  Since then he has won the Champions League twice, La Liga three times, the Copa Del Rey, three supercopas, two UEFA Supercups, and 2 FIFA Club World Cups.  That's pretty impressive no matter how you slice it.

He also had a stellar career as a player for Barcelona, winning the Champions League, the Copa Del Rey, and multiple La Liga titles.  He also played for Spain when they won Olympic gold in 1992, during which he scored a goal in the final.

Guardiola will certainly leave his mark at Camp Nou, and once again Barca have gone inside the club to replace him, announcing that his assistant Tito Vilanova will manage the club next season.  It's been a popular move.  The rumor mill didn't even really have time to get started, but some names that were bantered about were: Ernesto ValVerde, Laurent Blanc, Marcelo Bielsa, and failed Chelsea project Andre Villas Boas.  Barcelona clearly has the formula though, and they stuck with it by promoting from within.

The Puddle would like to congratulate Guardiola on his stellar success at Barcelona and wish him well in the future.  He is certainly a top manager and one of the good guys in world soccer.

Barca's Gerard Pique Released From Hospital

Pique takes a hit during yesterday's UCL Clash (Getty Images)

Today there's some good news for Barcelona fans in a week that's been full of bad news.  Defender Gerard Pique has been released from the hospital after a short stay to evaluate a possible concussion sustained in yesterday's Champion's League match with Chelsea.

In the 17th minute of the match, Pique went up for the same ball with his teammate and 'keeper Victor Valdes and Chelsea's Didier Drogba.  All three players collided and went to the ground.  Valdes controlled the ball, and he and Drogba got up in fairly short order, but Pique appeared to be out cold after slamming him to his fellow Barca man with his head.  He eventually got up and played for a few more minutes, but was eventually was subbed off and taken to the hospital.

The club had this to say in an official statement:

"Gerard Pique has been discharged from hospital after follow-up medical tests proved satisfactory.  The Barcelona FC defender spent the night in hospital under observation after a heavy collision with Didier Drogba and Victor Valdes in the early stages of the match against Chelsea.  The player will now rest for a week before being re-assessed."

Pique is a class guy and a great player.  Hopefully he'll be back on the pitch as soon as possible.

UCL: Barcelona vs. Chelsea

Fernando Torres celebrates after sealing Chelsea's trip to the final. (AP Images)

If you're a Chelsea supporter like myself, the picture above is probably all you need and what you'll remember from this fantastic match.  ESPN Soccernet said in their commentary that this might be one of the greatest matches ever in European football.  I'm not sure about all of that, but it's certainly one of the best I've seen.

It was a brutal match that required a brutal effort from Chelsea.  Getting the 1-0 win last week at Stamford Bridge was hard enough, but today they had to deal with Camp Nou.  Not only that, but they ended up having to do it down a man for the better part of the match.

Everybody knew Barca was going to come out on fire.  Everybody knew Chelsea would have to defend their rear ends off.  Both of those things happened.  Lionel Messi brought Barca out of the gates quickly, just missing a shot wide of the near post in the 3rd minute.  In the 19th minute, he put a free kick on target that was brilliantly saved by Petr Cech.

Funny thing was that between those fantastic chances for Messi, not much happened for Barca.  They seemed to be at a loss for how to unlock Chelsea's defense, much the same as they were last week in London.  Most of their shots came in from distance, and one could see the frustration building on the faces of the Champions.

Barca did eventually find the key though.  They usually do, especially at home.  Interestingly enough, they scored their first goal after a corner kick, in which you'd figure the bigger Chelsea squad would have the advantage.  In the 35th minute Issac Cuenca received the corner and made a great pass to an onrushing Busquets, who promptly slotted the ball past Cech to give Barca the 1-0 lead.

Then things all went to hell for Chelsea.  In the 37th minute John Terry got caught putting his knee into the back of Alexis Sanchez away from the ball.  The linesman saw it and a red card was issued to the Chelsea captain.  It was a totally deserved red card as well.  It was a real bonehead move from Chelsea's skipper who should have known better.  Then to add insult to injury, in the 44th minute, Messi dished off to Andres Iniesta, who easily banged the ball home to give Barca the 2-0 lead in the match and the 2-1 lead on aggregate.  It looked like it was curtains for Chelsea.

The Blues had something to say about that though.  In the first minute of stoppage time, Chelsea caught Barca sleeping, maybe thinking they were as good as through.  Frank Lampard kicked the ball long into the path of an onrushing Ramires, who promptly chipped the ball over Victor Valdes to make the match score 2-1. and equalize the aggregate 2-2.  The Blues went into halftime knowing if they could hold on, they would be through on away goals.

There was no way Barcelona was going to let that happen easily, and their best chance came very early in the second half.  In the 48th minute Didier Drogba brought down Cesc Fabregas in the box to concede a PK to Barca.  Messi stepped up to take, and I'm not sure you'd want anyone else in football to take it.  However, the inexplicable happened.  Messi tried to put it in the roof over the mountain that is Petr Cech, and he hit the crossbar!  The ball bounced harmlessly away, taking with it Barca's best chance of landing a knockout blow on the Blues.

Chelsea would defend stoutly through the second half, bending but not breaking.  If I'm honest with you, they really didn't bend all that much.  Barca's style kind of worked against them, as they seemed to piddle around with short back and forth passes trying to think of a way through.  In the end it was useless possession as the seconds ticked off the clock.

The match finally went into three minutes of stoppage time, and the Blues fans got the moment they've been craving for over a year.  In the first of the three minutes, Tello took the ball into the box and gave it up.  While Barca stood screaming for a handball that wouldn't be given in a million years, Fernando Torres broke away on the counter.  Somehow Chelsea cleared and he got on the end of it, creating a 1v1 with a stunned and probably bored Victor Valdes. Valdes hit the deck trying to take the ball off of Torres' feet, but El Nino jumped expertly around the prone Barca keeper and tapped the ball into the net, sending the Blues into delirium.  It would be the last significant action, the match ended 2-2 and Chelsea took the tie 2-3 on aggregate.  

The result sends Chelsea through to the final in Munich next month against either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.  Whatever happens in that match, this one will go down as one of the most memorable in Chelsea history.   The Blues seem to have Barca's number somewhat, as Chelsea has only lost to them once in their last 7 European meetings.  Lionel Messi has never scored a goal against Chelsea FC.

It has to be said that it was a crushing loss for Barca, who really gave it all on the pitch.  Nobody in a million years would bet that Lionel Messi would miss that penalty kick.  The cameras panned to Messi right after Torres scored, showing the little genius bowed down with his shirt pulled up over his head.  He's one fantastic footballer who is NOT used to losing big games.  He is also a class act, as is the rest of Barca, who sportingly congratulated the Blues after the match on their Herculean effort.

I'm not going out on a limb saying Barca is still the best team in Europe and probably the best in the world.  They've proved it time and time again.  However, this night, this day belongs to Chelsea FC.

Barcelona will be back though, hungrier than ever.

UCL Quarters: Barcelona vs. AC Milan

Lionel Messi converts his first PK of the match. (Getty Images)

Coming into today's UCL quarterfinal match between Barcelona and AC Milan, the Italians seemed to be a trendy to pick to upset the defending European Champs.  It is true that Milan could have gone through had they duplicated their 2-2 effort at Barca in the group stage, but I for one wasn't buying it.

Part of Milan's success last week at the San Siro was because they could pretty much defend most of the space on that pitch.  That wasn't going to happen on the wide expanses of Camp Nou, and it was obvious from the early moments.  In the 3rd minute Andres Iniesta had Barca's first chance, but put it wide.  In the 7th minute Lionel Messi looked to have a golden chance right in front of net but inexplicably put his shot wide as well. 

Maybe the Italians could live a charmed life in this one, but probably not.

Milan's day turned to shambles early on in the 10th minute when Philippe Mexes mishandled the ball just inside his own half.  Messi grabbed it and dashed in on goal.  He centered back to a trailing Xavi, but he wasn't quite ready for it, and bobbled it around the six.  It looked like Milan were going to escape, but the ball fell back to Messi and Luca Antonini made a dumb slide tackle on the little genius to concede a PK.    On the actual spot kick, Milan 'keeper Christian Abbiati guessed right, but couldn't get down on Messi's shot quick enough and Barca took the 1-0 lead.

After the goal, you could just feel the stadium relax.  Barca kept the possession for the most part, and it really didn't seem like Milan had much for them.  However, all that changed in the 33rd minute.  The Spaniards' defense went to sleep and Ibrahimovic found Antonio Nocerino running into the area.  He slid him the ball and Nocerino let loose a shot that Victor Valdes took an unconvincing swipe at before it went into the back of the net to make it 1-1.  That result would see Milan through on away goals.

Of course that would entail making sure Barca didn't score again, and that fable didn't last long.  Barca earned another PK in the 40th minute.  This one was a bit more controversial.  While setting up for a Barcelona corner, Alessandro Nesta got a couple of fistfuls of Sergio Busquets jersey.  Puyol set a pick on him and as they fought around it, Busquets went to the floor rather theatrically, drawing the penalty.  Now, it probably was a foul, but you could probably call this type of foul on 85% of corner kick in routines in pro soccer.  I'm sure Italian defenders defend corners like this every week.  Busquets flailed his arms before going down like the proverbial ton of bricks, making sure the referee saw it, and called it.  I'm sorry, it probably was a foul, but it was almost surely a premeditated dive by Busquets, and it's exactly that kind of play that makes people turn off soccer matches.  At any rate, Messi scored his second PK of the day and sent Barca to the half leading 2-1.

Milan never really got it going in the second half, and Barca put it away rather early.  In the 53rd minute, Messi let loose a shot that was blocked but the ball fell to Iniesta, who slapped it just inside the far post to make it 3-1 to Barca and kill the game off.  It also made neutrals like myself feel a little bit better about the impending result after the stench of the soft PK.

Milan never really threatened the Barca net for the rest of the match, and the Spaniards held on for the 3-1 win.  Now, I don't mean to imply that the second penalty was the reason Barca won.  I'm sure they would have won anyway.  I also don't want to imply that Barcelona didn't deserve to go through.  Of course they did, they were obviously the better team over two legs.  It's just unfortunate that a team as good as they are has to have something like a Busquets dive mar a pretty good performance.  You don't see Lionel Messi pulling that stuff.

As for Barcelona, they await the winner of Chelsea vs. Benfica in the Champions League semifinals.

UCL: Bayer Leverkusen vs. Barcelona

Sanchez scores his second of the match. (AP IMAGES)

Watching this Champions League match highlighted to me both the good and bad aspects of watching Barca play their particular brand of football. Of course, you generally can't blame the bad on Barca. Their play, their passing is still gorgeous to behold, but when their opponents play like Leverkusen did for a good portion of this match, is gets really frustrating. It was like the Germans weren't even trying to go forward. When they did get the ball, they'd give it up to Barca and then just sit back in defense again.

Unfortunately for everyone except Leverkusen fans, Barcelona wasn't able to do much in the first half despite their monopoly on possession. Good chances were few and far between, though I got the sense it was just from Barca not being quite on their game as opposed to being the result of anything Leverkusen was doing. Barca had a couple of chances from free kicks, including one from Dani Alves that went hopelessly high in the 12th minute. Adriano also took a crack at goal in the 25th, but sent his shot into the cheap seats.

Alexis Sanchez finally helped Barca get their noses in front shortly before halftime. In the 41st minute he took yet another well sculpted ball from Lionel Messi and slipped it by the Leverkusen 'keeper to make it 0-1. Leverkusen's dream of going into the half level fell just short.

So the Germans finally decided to get a little feisty in the second half, finally bringing a little of the spectacle into the match. They started to actually push Barca a bit and started getting looks around their 18. In the 52nd minute Vedran Corluka floated a ball across the penalty area to Michal Kadlec, who headed home the goal to equalize the game at 1-1.

Then Barcelona woke up and said "Oh yeah, we're Barcelona." Just three minutes after the Germans equalized Sanchez dashed down the field, danced around the Leverkusen 'keeper, and poked the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-2.

Still, Leverkusen thought they might not be that bad off, despite giving up the two away goals. They continued to attack and tried to go toe to toe with the defending champs. In the 57th minute Renato Augusto forced a save out of Victor Valdes, and Gonzalo Castro nearly equalized again in the 64th, but saw his shot draw the post instead of the net.

Barca weren't phazed and were able to ice the match and probably the tie late on. In the 88th minute Messi sent a pass out to Alves on the wing. Alves sent it back center into the area, and Messi made an almost super human run to get back to the pass and turn it into the goal to make it 1-3 Barcelona at full time.

Not exactly vintage Barca. They gave up some quality chances to the Germans in the second half. I wonder if it might have been different had Leverkusen played a more positive brand in the first half, but they didn't, and Barca heads home in a couple of weeks with the tie firmly in hand.

Puddle's Goal of the Midweek: Messi vs. Leverkusen

For my goal of the midweek this week, I take you to the UEFA Champion's League. Barcelona dominated Bayer Leverkusen in Germany to take a 1-3 lead going back to Spain. The goals included this late gem by Messi. Just watch as he hustles to get the return ball from Alves to put it away. Great stuff from the Little Genius.

Puddle's Goal of the Midweek: Dani Alves vs. Real Madrid

My Goal of the midweek comes from El Clasico. Dani Alves nailed this GOLAZO helping Barca knock Real Madrid out of the Copa Del Rey.



Spectacular!

David Villa Out 5-6 Months

Well, the bad news that Barca fans didn't want to hear came out yesterday. David Villa will have surgery on his broken leg on Monday and will out be out 5-6 months. Some reports are saying 4-5 months, but most of the ones I'm seeing this morning are saying 5-6. Either way, it's going to be a long road back for Villa.

Villa broke his leg against Al Sadd in the Club World Cup in Japan. Earlier today, Barca beat Santos of Brazil 4-0 to claim the Club World Cup title. More on that later.

UCL: Barcelona vs. Viktoria Plzen

Every time I sit down to an entry about Barcelona, I find myself pretty much unable to come up with anything that I haven't said before. I'm not a Barca supporter by any stretch, in fact I prefer Real Madrid in La Liga, but I can't deny that Barca play some of the most entertaining and attractive football out there.

A lot of folks thought this match was going to be a goal fest for the European champs. It really wasn't though. Viktoria Plzen, the Czech camps, were obviously outgunned and outclassed, but they really did the best they could and did a decent job of containing Barca. To that end, they basically camped two rows of four in and immediately in front of their penalty area.

It took some doing for Barca to break this down, but they did. Honestly, when you have guys like Messi and Iniesta, you've got a pretty good shot against any defense. In the 10 minute, these two combined on some glorious 1-2 play, and Iniesta finished the move with some fancy skill work to get around the last defender and slot home the goal to make it 1-0.

Play continued in much the same manner in the second half. Barca had many chances, but most often couldn't get the final ball. Messi himself hit the post twice. David Villa scored the second goal in the 82 minute, pounding home a loose ball to give Barca the 2-0 win.

At one point in the match, Messi went down with a knock after a hit. However, he was treated on the pitch and continued in the match. Plzen did not register a single official shot in the match.

UCL: BATE Borisov vs. Barcelona

Unlike Ajax and Real Madrid, there was no match history between BATE and Barca. I decided I really wanted to take in this match because one of two things was going to happen. Either BATE was going to pull one of the shocks of the soccer season, or Barca was going to put on a hell of a show.

Even if you didn't watch the match, I'm sure you can guess what happened.

BATE tried an interesting defensive tactic to start the match. Banking on the fact that because Barca lacks size, they wouldn't be able to beat them from wide, they clogged the midfield with as many as 9 players at a time, making Barca try to solve them from the wings.

It took about 20 minutes, but Barca did solve them. In the 19th minute Alves sent a cross toward the far post where Lionel Messi waiting. He banged a shot toward goal that was deflected in by a BATE defender to make it 0-1 Barca. It was officially ruled an Own Goal.

Then just 3 minutes later Pedro got in on the action, heading in a cross to make it 0-2. Barca would add one more before half time. In the 38th minute the BATE 'keeper spilled the ball off of a cross, and Messi was right there to hammer the ball into the net and make it 0-3 Barca at the break.

Barcelona wasn't going to sit on the lead either. They like to score, and they like to get as close to perfect as they can. They opened the second half with a barrage on the BATE goal, with Messi and David Villa leading the way. In the 56th minute Messi completed his brace, smacking home a top shelf goal after another cross from Alves. David Villa added the finishing tough in the 89th minute, taking advantage of a BATE giveaway in their own end and slotting past the keeper to make the full time score 0-5.

In the end, it was simply a dominant performance by Barca. BATE played hard, and played well at times, especially on defense, but they just lacked the quality to keep up with the European Champs for any more than that first 20 minutes.

UCL: Barcelona vs. AC Milan.

Well, talk about opening the new season of the UEFA Champions League with a marquee match up. Defending Serie A Champions AC Milan paid a visit to the Nou Camp to take on defending La Liga AND European Champions Barcelona. This is the one that everyone wanted to see.

It did not take long for the sparks to fly on the pitch either. Just 25 seconds into the match, Alexandre Pato took a nice through ball and cleanly beat Valdes to spot the ball in the back of the net and give Milan a shock 0-1 lead.

Barca was clearly stunned, and it took them a few minutes to recover and establish their usual passing and possession game. They did though. It just took a bit longer. Of course, Lionel Messi was at the heart of the Barca show, and he was creating and shooting. Generally the little genius was doing everything he could to equalize. It worked in the 36th minute. Messi slipped through the AC Milan defense, which had been playing well, and slipped it across the goal to Pedro who knocked it in to tie the match at 1-1.

Coming out into the second half, Barcelona continued to dominate proceedings. It looked like just a matter of time until they took the lead. David Villa scored on a marvelous free kick in the 50th minute to make it 2-1 Barca.

However, just when you thought it was all over, AC Milan threw a wrench into the Barca opener. They earned a corner at 90'+2 and Thiago Silva headed it in to equalize at 2-2, which was the full time result.

Obviously the result was huge for Milan. Nobody expected them to come out with a point, despite the early goal from Pato. However, they exposed Barca's central defense twice, both on Pato's goal and Silva's header at the end. It just goes to show you that Barca CAN be scored on, if you can get the ball away from them.

Reports Put Cesc in Barca Colors.

I don't usually blog about transfer news until an official announcement is made, but this one looks to be done. Reports coming out of London, Sky Sports in particular, are saying that the deal sending Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona is done. The deal is rumored to be worth at least 48.5 million dollars (US).

Supposedly Fabregas is in Spain today taking a medical. Speculation is saying he may be announced tomorrow and travel to Madrid for Spanish Supercup on Sunday vs Real Madrid.

Arsene Wenger has not commented, but Fabregas is not in the squad for The Gunners' opener at Newcastle this weekend.

For more, visit FoxSoccer.com

UCL FInal: Barcelona vs. Manchester United

I spent a lot of time this last week thinking about who I thought had the edge in this match. On one hand, I think Barca has been hands down the best team in Europe this year. They're so selfish with possession, they have such good quality players they looked like the clear choice. On the other hand, you knew the English would come out support United. All year, Manchester United has embodied that never say die spirit in grinding out the results they needed to win the Premier League title. In the end, I decided Barca would probably win 2-1. I just couldn't bet against Messi.

Well it was a good thing I didn't. However, United did come to play. They did especially well in the first 10 minutes or so. They kept the ball quite a bit, denying Barca their game. The United pressure was really good, and the back four for Barca started to show some uneasiness. Unfortunately, they couldn't translate it into any chances, except one where Javier Hernandez was totally offside.

United couldn't keep the pressure up though. Barca eventually got the ball, and then they started playing their game. United was reduced to chasing the ball. In the 17th, minute Pedro had the first serious chance and just barely missed. It was a portent of things to come. The shots started coming from Villa and company, Barca had settled. Finally in the 27th minute, Xavi sliced a nice pass into Pedro who put it past Van der Sar and gave Barcelona the 1-0 lead. Good stuff.

United responded though. Again, this is not a team that gives up. Rooney decided he was not going to be absent from this big game, and his presence was felt. In the 33rd minute, he did a nice little 1-2 with Ryan Giggs and calmly put the ball into the Barca net to equalize at 1-1. Very nice goal. Totally against the run of play. United played much better the rest of the first half to hold that tie until the break at 1-1.

The second half was a different story. United never had a chance. Barcelona came out really looking to put their stamp on the match and that's exactly what they did. Van der Sar was left for dead in goal by United, and Barca put on sensation pressure. The Little Genius himself scored his first goal on English soil in the 55th minute. The United defense left him all lone, for some reason, at the top of the area and Messi just buried it to give Barca the 2-1 lead.

It never got any better for United either. Van der Sar faced shot after shot, stopping almost all of them. The one he didn't get came off the foot of David Villa. Again United left him space and he put it in from the top of the box to make it 3-1. United were toast an reduced to squabbling. Giggs in particular. In the 78th minute he complained for a penalty while HE STILL HAD THE BALL. Giggs knows better, perhaps sleeping with a reality tv star has made him stupid. United never threatened again and the match ended 3-1.

Congrats to Barcelona, the 2011 UEFA Champions League Champs!

Congrats to Barcelona.

Barcelona won their third straight La Liga title after a 1-1 draw at Levante on Wednesday.

Congrats to them for the 21st League title in 111 years.

Italy Champs--AC Milan
Germany Champs--Dortmund
Spain Champs--Barcelona

UCL: Barcelona vs. Real Madrid

Well, this was the end of Clasicos for the year, and I think most of us will agree that the last installment wasn't very classic, outside of Messi's play and his goals. Real Madrid came into the match down two away goals and knowing that they would need a minor miracle to advance to the Champion's League Final in London. We were hoping, in that context, that this version would indeed be classic.

Madrid came right out of the gates with a nice attacking start, and they looked like they were going to make a game out of it, like they weren't willing to yield all the possession to Barca. However, after a few minutes, normal service was resumed for Barca and they hogged the ball as per usual. We had some of the fouls and some of the diving that had marred the first leg, but not too much. It looked like both sides actually fancied playing some football.

Barca finally started building some pressure around the 22nd minute, when Sergio Busquets got a decent header off of a corner, but it went right to St. Iker for the save. Then Messi decided to really get involved. In the 32nd minute he got off a wonderful shot that forced Casillas into an equally wonderful save. The Little Genius was at it again barely a minute later, but this time his shot was off target. Barcelona wasn't deterred though, David Villa got off a shot in the 34th which forced Casillas to again earn his pay, Pedro put a hot high in the 35th, and in the 37th Messi came on again putting another shot on target. They were tearing Madrid up, but despite that, we still went to the half at 0-0.

Controversy again reared it's head almost right away in the second half. Higuain put the ball in the back of the net right off the bat, and appeared to have given Madrid a leg to stand on in the tie, but the goal was disallowed because Mascherano went down right behing the play, ostensibly at the hand of Christiano Ronaldo. CR7 was furious, as replay showed he had a right to be. On replay you could clearly see that Ronaldo had been fouled by Picque and had fallen into Mascherano. Instead of needing only one goal to equalize the tie, Madrid was still stuck, and in my opinion, screwed.

Barca put it all to bed a few minutes later. In the 54th minute Iniesta slipped a nice ball into Pedro who finally beat Casillas and gave Barca a 1-0 lead, 3-0 on agg.

That was pretty much it. Madrid did equalize the match in the 64th minute with a goal from Marcello, but it was too little, too late. After that, Madrid, obviously frustrated, started fouling and Barca started diving, making the match nearly as ugly as the first leg, but in the end the match was a draw at 1-1, with Barca advancing 3-1 on aggregate.

Ronaldo complained about the goal afterward, and rightly so. A goal that early could have changed the dynamic of the second half. I won't say it cost them the tie though. Real lost the tie because they sat back at home and let Barca dictate in leg 1, then imploded when they got flustered. Sure, the refs were horrid, almost MLS like at times, but you can't convince me that Barca didn't deserve to advance. In a tie where there wasn't a lot of football played, Barca played it better.